Other Talent
by Serendipity Kat
Summary: [RENT] UPDATED as of 10.25.06. Maureen isn't just a drama queen.
1. Chapter 1

Just a little something that popped into my head. There will be other characters later in the story. Might be Mark/Maureen, might be Roger/Maureen, might be Mimi/Mark... who knows? (smiles) Please read it.

-Anglina

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Maureen Johnson drug her feet along the snowy side walk. It was the middle of December and there was snow everywhere. She shivered and pulled her ratty once-bright red wool coat around her body. The color had now changed to an almost blood red due to the fact that it hadn't been washed in who knows how long. It was the last thing she had that she could call her own. Everything else was Colleen's. The coat was warm, but it didn't do a thing for her legs which were covered only in black fishnets with calf-high black heeled boots.

"Hey baby! Where you going?" someone whistled from across the street.

Maureen just shook her head and continued to shuffle along. She knew where she was headed and she knew she was late. And because of that, there'd be hell to pay. _Ring, ring!_ She was startled out of her reverie by the cell phone's ringing. She stopped and fumbled around in her pocket for a bit. Her lip curled up into a sneer when she saw the number on the screen. _887-4561. _Colleen's number, the club's number. _Of course it would her calling, it's Her cell phone._ The tall girl thought bitterly. Colleen liked to keep an eye on her… employees. She flipped open the phone's cover and held it up to her ear. "Yes, Colleen?" she said with as much blandness as she was able to muster.

"_Where are you? You were supposed to be here 10 minutes ago!"_

"I'm sorry, Colleen, but you know that I can only get there by walking. I-" she started but was cut off.

"_I don't give a damn! There's a new girl and you're training her. And not only that, you're closing tonight. So get your white ass over here. People are asking for you. And if I don't deliver you, you lose money, which means I loose money, and when I loose money, it makes me upset." _Her tone had changed from upset to condescending in less than a minute. But that was Colleen, quick-change comedian. She could make you want to kill yourself while sipping tea.

"_And you know what happens when I get upset, don't you?"_

Maureen felt tears well up in her eyes.

"_Yes, you do. Now don't let me down. Your costume is waiting for you. I told them you'd be on in 45 min. Don't forget the new girl." _Her tone changed again.

"What's her name?" Maureen asked, curiosity creeping into her voice. New blood… that would be nice. The others were ok, but they hated Maureen. Since she was the one training her, maybe she could make a friend. She laughed bitterly. A friend… HA! Not in her lifetime. She didn't have friends, she had acquaintances. But they were all she needed. They were her connections in the underworld. She focused her attention back to the phone where Colleen was still talking.

"… _is Marima. Apparently her father dropped her off and told her to make a living."_

Maureen looked up, half listening to the chatter. There it was: her work. The only thing she could do without a high school education. Not that she was stupid, school just never interested her. Not once she found boys. "Colleen, I'm right outside the building. I'll see you inside." She quickly closed the phone and shoved it into her pocket.

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I need a nickname/stage name for Maureen. Any ideas? Kudos for you if you can figure the character out. (smiles) Critique is more than welcome.


	2. Chapter 2

Here's the next chapter. I hope you like it. Expect the next one at the end of April. I need to know: who should Maureen end up with: Mark or Roger? I need to know because it effects how I write chapter 4. If I don't get some votes, you don't get chapter 4. Simple as that. From what I see, RENTlovers are good about giving votes. Please don't disapoint me. Enjoy the story. Critique is more than welcome.

-Serendipity kat

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Chapter 2

A wave of smoke and the stench of beer greeted her as she pushed open the gilded doors of the club. There were tables and chairs everywhere. None of them were empty, though. They were all filled with some form of beer-drinking, cigarette-smoking, testosterone-filled males. As she weaved her way towards the back, some of the regulars called to her.

"Hey, hey, Baby! Can't wait to see your ass, babe."

"V! Give me some, some suuugar!" one guy yelled drunkenly.

You know you want me, V!"

"V is in the house!"

She plastered on her trademark smile and tossed her head of dark chocolate-brown curls. She spun around seductively, her coat opening a bit so they could see a smidge of her outfit. The guys who had called out to her, just stared back in a drunken stupor. While it was revealing, she would ultimately change into something else for her show. She gave a throaty laugh and continued to move towards the back. But not without a couple of ass slaps and pinches. When she got there, she noticed a girl. Yes, a girl. The poor thing didn't look any older than 15. Not that Maureen was much older. She was 19 and already a star. At least, she was a star in the underworld, not in the normal world. No, she didn't fit in there. Up there was a world full of college degrees and business suits. Down here was a place of sex, drugs, and cheap liquor. This was where she belonged, but not this girl. As she stopped and swiped a beer from the bar, Maureen silently surveyed the girl.

She looked about 5'4" and of Latino descent. She was tiny compared to Maureen's 5'9". She had curly hair like Maureen's except jet black that was pulled back in a messy ponytail. She had on a sweatshirt that looked too big and a pair of pants that looked too small. The sweatshirt was old and dirty. _Probably an old boyfriend's or something._ Maureen thought, then she snorted. She wondered if that was all the girl had from one of them. Maureen had all sorts of… _souvenirs_ from previous guys.

Her appearance looked as if she had gotten ready in a hurry. But even in the dim light of the club, there was an almost angelic glow about this, this… child. The last time Maureen had seen this, she'd been 14 and forced to baby-sit her neighbor's 2-year old. Not that she actually paid much attention to the kid, she was too busy necking the 15 year-old son. Among other things… Her lips curled into a smile. But it wasn't a mocking smile, it was a sad one. How awful for this girl to become caught up in the tangled world of sex, drugs, money, power, corruption, and rock 'n' roll that was the underbelly of New York City. For the first time in countless years, Maureen felt a chip of the ice block that she had molded around her heart melt. She winked at the bartender, Lissa, and made her way to the girl and the guarded door that lead to the dressing rooms.

"Are you Marima?" she asked.

The girl looked a bit frightened at her tone. She looked down at her scruffy shoes and mumbled something.

"Honey, you're going to have to speak louder than that, if you want to make it in this world." Maureen chided gently. She reached out a gloved had and gently lifted the mocha colored chin. "Are you Marima?" she asked again.

Green eyes stared back into her own blue ones.

"Yes. Are you Maureen?" she asked timidly.

Maureen nodded. "Let's go." She reached down and grabbed Marima's duffle bag and went up to the door. "Hey, Scott." She greeted the tough-looking guard.

"Hey yourself, Mo. Colleen's having a fit, watch what you say." He replied and let the two of them in behind the door.

The atmosphere behind the door was so much different from the main room. Off to the right were several doors. And going up above them were some metal stairs, platforms that almost looked like a catwalk, and more doors. It front of all the stuff was a huge double curtain. The first curtain was opaque and the second curtain was sheer. That was where the dancers went after spending time getting ready. She pointed to the apparatuses.

"Those are where we enter onto the stage. Since you're new, Colleen probably won't let you out during hours for a couple of days. You'll get to practice, however, during non-hours." She continued to walk on past the catwalks to another doorway. That door opened up into a long skinny hallway lined with doors on either side. Several of the doors opened and girls emerged.

"Mo, you're late." One girl, a blonde, cackled. She was wearing what could be a bikini top, but was really two thin pieces of material held up by invisible straps. The rest of her costume was covered in feathers. "I hope you get what's coming." The blonde smiled nastily and stalked towards the door.

"Who's that?" Marima asked softly.

Maureen shook her head, her brown curls flying everywhere. She pushed open a door that had her name on it. "Her name, or… her stage name is Coco. Her real name is Desiree. She's a bitch." She gave Marima a sidelong glance. "I should warn you, people aren't exactly friendly to me here. The same goes for anyone who's my friend." She did air quotes around the word 'friend.' She set the girl's bag down on the ratty sofa that was shoved into her dressing room.

Her dressing room wasn't large, but it wasn't as small as some of the other girls. It had a small wooden closet, a ratty sofa that had stuffing popping out at places, a medium sized trunk which was overflowing with feathers and sequins, and a large lighted vanity. The vanity was made of knotty wood and the floor was covered with peeling and cracking paper. The walls were covered in a gaudy-looking light pink tile. There was an attempt made to dress it up with the addition of a small black rug and several pictures on the walls. It was very messy. Maureen had never been a neat person. But despite everything, she was a clean person. She hated getting dirty, which was ironic because of her profession. As she slammed the door shut with her foot and began to undress, the whole room shook a bit. "Hand me that skirt over there, Marima." Her voice was muffled by her shirt.

"Here." Mo felt a skirt being thrust at her. "Is, is this what you wanted?" she looked up to see the girl holding a longish red sequined skirt. She shook her head. "Honey, that's a bit too conservative for what we do. I only have that because that's what I started out in as a waitress. You're lucky. 'Cause apparently Colleen wants you to start straight on the floor." Maureen watched Marima's face closely and saw several emotions flit across her face. Fear, excitement, loathing, and longing all were visible to Maureen's trained eyes. She knew how to read emotions because her job depended on it. If she could read her audience, she could sell the performance better. She knew when they were bored or excited or alive. Not that it was a problem when it came her turn up on the catwalk. She never had any problems or a bored house. She was the star.

"Go into the closet over there and bring me the yellow case." She instructed Marima. The girl did so and brought it to her. Meanwhile, Maureen pulled on a dark ruby-red sparkly skirt over her black fishnets. She still in her bra, however. Mo opened the case up and withdrew a pink sparkly halter-top, pink fishnets, pink high-heeled boots, and a black skirt. This was her first costume. It held sentimental value for her even though it wasn't hers. "This was my first costume." The other girl just stared at it. A thoughtful look came over Mo's pretty face. "In fact, I want you to have it. Welcome to the underworld of sex, drugs, and rock 'n' roll."


	3. Chapter 3

_Hello, darlings. Here's ch. 3. Thank you for all your votes. However, the score is tied at 3-3. This doesn't help me. I still need to know who Maureen should end up with: _**MARK **_or _**ROGER**_? I am extending the voting to May 31. I have a lot on my plate right now, so after May, I'll be able to write ch.4. But please keep an eye on my profile where I'll post the voting results on a weekly basis. I don't care if you've already voted, vote agian. But I can't ahve a tie. If that happens, then I have to choose and ireally don't want to do that. But in the meantime, enjoy the story. Critique is more than welcome._

_-Serendipity Kat_

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"MAUREEN!" The door to her dressing room burst open and a women in a black business suit stormed in. "Where the hell are-" she broke off when she saw that her star dancer was there. 

"Hello, Colleen. I'm almost ready. I was just explaining to Marima what I do." Mo answered her boss as calmly as possible. She was ready. Her outfit consisted of a peach colored sparkly skirt that barely covered her butt, black fishnets, shiny peach knee-length boots, and a peach bikini top. To top it off, there was a sheer white filmy cloth draped over her body and wrapped around her arms making her look like a Greek goddess. All that was missing was her headdress, but that was downstairs.

Colleen smoothed her already immaculate black skirt and nodded. She took a few steps towards Maureen, but stopped and turned to the other girl. "Marima, I'll leave it to you to choose a stage name. Also, you will only be watching for the next week. You and Maureen will both be coming in after hours and Maureen will show you what to do, how to do it, and all the ins-and-outs. Normally I have new girls start off as a waitress, but I have enough of them." She looked at her watch and muttered, "Untalented girls…don't treat customers right…" she looked up again. "Your exotic looks mean that you don't need to waitress, you'll go straight to the stage. Meanwhile, Maureen, you're on! Don't you dare disappoint me or else…" with that, Colleen stalked out the door.

Maureen looked at the girl, cowering in the corner. "Honey, come here." She held out her arms to Marima. The girl slowly came over and Maureen took her in her arms. "Colleen's always like that. She's mostly all bite and no bark. But you need to buck up and take it. You'll never make here if you don't. I know this place is bad, but trust me, there are worst places you can be." As her green eyes fell on the crying figure in her arms, Maureen felt some more walls break inside her body. She felt almost… maternal.

She'd never really had a mother to speak of. Her biological mother had whored herself and then left, leaving Maureen with a younger brother. It had just been the 2 of them until the brother left home at age 14, 2 years after their mom had left. Maureen did the only thing she could do: leave. She'd made it to New York City with $50 in her pocket and a high school diploma. She'd been found sleeping on the streets by Colleen and offered a job as a waitress. It wasn't much, but it enabled Maureen to buy a small apartment in the East Village. What she could pay with money, she paid with herself to the landlord. She didn't like it, but she didn't have any other choice. Then, when she was old enough, Colleen had made her a back-up dancer for Coco. Soon she'd made her mark and Colleen let her open by herself. The rest was history. She was now the star attraction. Doing that enabled her to buy herself a larger apartment without having to give favors to the landlord. But it was still hard to make ends meet. She was barely able to cover the rent. Luckily for her, all her clothes and food were provided by Colleen, if she ate at the club.

She snapped back into reality when she felt Marima stir. "Honey, I have to go on now. You can watch from the side. Come, I'll show you." With that, she took one last look in the mirror, grabbed Marima by the hand, and left her dressing room. She walked through the skinny hallway until she came to the outer area. To her left was the catwalk and the stage. She took Marima to a side door. "Here. Go in here. This way you'll be able to see the show without being in the way. I need to go downstairs. You'll see me in about… 10 min. Enjoy the show. Also, watch what I do, because you'll be doing this stuff next week." With that, she left the bewildered girl and headed for another door, except this one led to the basement.

"Hey, Mo. Ready?" asked one of the guys who was there. He was fiddling with some switches on a large board. Behind him was what looked like a large, ridged shell. There were light red and white drapery all around the bottom. It was hiding a medium-sized hole.

"Hello, to you to, Alex. I'm as ready as I'll ever be. Open the lid up." As he complied, she looked down at her outfit and smoothed out a few wrinkles. She then reached for the red headdress that was sitting nearby. She climbed up the stairs to the shell and lowered herself down into the hole. "Please secure my headdress, Laura." Her voice was muffled a bit, but nevertheless, a middle-aged brunette came over and set the headpiece on top of Maureen's head. She positioned her body and braced herself for the movement. The shell wasn't completely opaque form her point of view, but it was to the audience. So she knew the moment that it was her turn to perform. The music swelled and floated all around her. As she felt the shell lift, she heard the announcer's voice:

"_Gentleman. And now… the main exhibit on Avenue B. The event you all have been waiting for. Put your hands together for the star of the Cat Scratch Club, the one… the only… the Goddess of the Dance… VENUS!"_

Maureen felt the thrill of the music and excitement of the drunken crowd flow through her. It was show time.

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_The shell that she's in was based on the opening part in the movie, "The Little Mermaid" where after the 1sxt song, a shell rises up and Ariel is supposed to be in it. Hope that makes it a bit more clearer. Critique is more than welcome. _


	4. Chapter 4

**This chapter is in testing.** I'm curious on what people think of this one. I might change it, I might not. It depends.

_Isn't it interesting? That when you come with something original, then everybody goes and takes it? Since this story has appeared, I've found at least 4 stories that have **Marima** as an alternet name for Mimi. I guess people aren't creative enough to come up with their own names, but have to take others. _

-Serendipity Kat

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Chapter 4

"MARK! Where the hell are you?" came a voice.

A blonde haired guy with glasses looked up from where he was editing the day's film. "I'm in my room! What do you want Roger?"

"You. Out. Now." a tall man in a rumpled leather jacket burst into Mark's room. "You've been in there all day which I know isn't healthy."

Mark rolled his blue eyes. "I have not. Hell, Roger. Leave me alone! I need to finish this footage for Alexi!"

"No. We're going out. Benny-"

"Benny what?" Came a new voice.

Both men turned to see a tall, lanky African-American bald man standing the doorway. "Benny what?" he asked again.

Roger rolled his green eyes. "Benny, help me get Mark out of here. I was going to take him to that club you suggested."

Benny smiled and joined Roger by the bed as Mark got a terrified look on his face. "No! No clubs. Come on, guys! Please no clubs!!"

Roger and Benny shared a look then roughly grabbed Mark's arms and hauled him up.

"You really need to get out more, Mark." Benny said laughingly as he and Roger shoved Mark out the bedroom door. "You need to live a bit and stop detaching from the rest of the living world."

"Hey!" Mark protested indignantly. "I live." He looked around and saw a smirk on Roger's handsome face and a disbelieving look on Benny's. "Really, I do."

Roger snorted and fell over backwards onto the worn couch. "Right. When was the last time you went somewhere without your camera?"

Mark was silent and looked down at his hands.

Roger continued on. "And when was the last time you haven't gone a day without editing your film? And what about the time-"

Mark jumped up and shook his hands. "All right, all right. Enough." He sighed heavily. "Fine… I'll go with you to the club."

Roger and Benny smiled and each of them grabbed their coats.

As they went out the door, mark was at loose ends with what to do about his hands. Normally they were wrapped around his camera. He stuffed them into his pockets and watched as Roger and Benny exchanged playful banter with each other. Then up ahead, there, he saw it, _The Cat Scratch Club_.

"Benny? Why are we going to a strip club?"


End file.
